Chuck vs the New Intersects
by Arathorn73
Summary: The CIA and NSA have succeeded in creating a number of new Intersects. This just might spell the end of Team Bartowski. Written like an actual episode.
1. Setting the Stage

_I own no part of Chuck – none of the characters, none of the scenes, nothing. I just enjoy writing about it._

_This episode takes place after episode 2.3. It has no Emmett Milbarge, so it's presumably before 2.5, though it could be after that arc, depending on how it's resolved. The entire episode is written as if I were a writer for the show (with camera directions and everything)._

_Thanks to sharpasamarble for his beta reading on chapter 1._

_Please review and comment._

--

Episode opens with a pan scene across Chuck's bedroom. He has three mismatched suitcases already shut by the door. Chuck is dressed in his Nerd Herd outfit and trying, unsuccessfully, to shut a pink, overfull suitcase, when we hear the door open.

Ellie comes in, followed by Awesome, both in scrubs. Ellie asks "How long are you going to be gone, again? You have packed as much stuff as you had when you moved in."

Chuck looks abashed. "Only two weeks, or so Sarah tells me. But I don't know where we're going. Plus, she told me to pack for adventure. Knowing her, that could be anything." He looks both excited and a little nervous about what might be planned, on multiple levels.

Awesome comes in. "Two weeks with Sarah, bro? AWESOME! But are you really going to need …" he rummages in the suitcase and pulls out an adult-sized, long-sleeve Batman set of pajamas, and continues, "these? Come on, bro. If it's cold in bed, find another way to get warm. I'm sure you'll find someone to help with that." He slaps Chuck on the back. Chuck grins and grimaces slightly – whether from the blow or the thought is unclear.

With the Batman PJs out and Awesome's help, Chuck gets the suitcase closed.

Ellie is wearing her best motherly concern look. "Don't do anything too dangerous. Or get into any kind of trouble," she warns Chuck.

Awesome is offended. "Chuck can handle anything. And, besides, we all know we can trust Sarah to not do anything really dangerous, right?" Chuck grins, but it's a weak one and not his full-fledged smile.

"Chuck" – Ellie's voice is full of warning and concern. "Be careful. We all know how you can hurt yourself, just playing Wii. Sarah does seem to be bruise easily, too…"

Chuck cuts her off, gently. "Relax, sis. We'll be fine. I'm a big boy now. I can take care of myself. I'm sure Sarah won't have anything *too* crazy planned. She knows my limits pretty well." Chuck sounds confident, but he's also convincing himself as much as trying to convince Ellie.

Awesome is completely unconcerned. "Just don't waste all your energy during the day. Gotta save some for the night, too." He punctuates this last comment with a wink. Ellie rolls her eyes and Chuck forces another grin.

"Can you guys help me carry this stuff out to the car? I gotta be at work in 20 minutes." Chuck says, trying to change the subject. They each grab a suitcase (Devon grabs two) and head out the door.

*fade out*

Open on the familiar Intersect computer room. The computer is coming to life, with a few images flashing all around. The terminal rises up, complete with a spinning "Cipher" chip.

A man steps up to the terminal. We don't know him. Behind him are three other very serious-looking but slightly nerdy men. All four are wearing the stereotypical CIA/NSA dark suit. The camera pans across each of their faces, fairly quickly. None of them are wearing sunglasses, though they have slight nose indentations to indicate they may have been recently.

A disembodied voice says "Begin Intersect Initialization". The man at the terminal takes a breath, steps up to the keyboard, and types. He pauses a fraction of a second before pressing enter.

Once he does, the walls really come to life, flashing madly. Some familiar images (the pie from episode 1, bugs from other episodes, the hummingbird, etc.) appear, along with many unfamiliar ones. The camera pans around to the four men, who have the images reflecting of their eyes. The men are fairly distinct – we'll call them Neckbeard, Baldie, TwoChins, and BigEars for now. First one, then two more, and finally the last go rigid and fall to the floor, where the images continue to bounce off them.

Two individuals in full white decontamination suits, with darkened visors, rush into the room and begin tending to them.

The scene cuts to a close-up of one of the suited individuals taking the pulse at a man's wrist. This final scene/cut was on General Beckman's monitor. Pull back to show her in dark sunglasses. A thin-lipped smile grows on her face.

Cut to the default exterior wide shot of the Buy More.

Zoom in to Chuck giving Morgan a hug. Morgan looks confused, but Chuck is sincere, at least potentially. "Good-bye, little buddy. May the force be with you."

Morgan pushes him away, a little embarrassed and a little touched at the same time. "Why all the melodrama? It's only two weeks. It's not like when you went off to Stanford. Sheesh."

Chuck looks like he wants to something more to Morgan. He opens his mouth, grimaces, and shuts it again. He opens it a second time and shuts it without saying anything. Finally, he says, "Yeah, you're right. Hold the Buy More together until I get back, though, OK?"

Sarah calls out, in her best fake girlfriend voice, "Come on, honey. We'll be late for our plane." Morgan smiles and shakes his head at it all as Chuck walks away from him.

Chuck walks to where Sarah, decked out in her Orange Orange best, is waiting by her Porsche. Chuck's bags are overflowing into the back seat and all over. Chuck walks over to her and whispers in her ear, "Did you find room for your stuff?"

She looks at him a bit flirtingly. "All I packed was this" is her answer, swinging her purse slightly. Chuck is thunderstruck. They get into the Porsche, while Morgan stands and watches.

Chuck finds his voice as he's getting in the car. "What?" he asks. "Why?" His face is at turns hopeful and fearful.

As Sarah starts the car and puts it into gear, she replies, "I've learned to travel light.  
After all, we might never come back." Chuck raises his eyebrows, looks at the Buy More and Morgan. He puts up his hand against the glass – index finger spread, middle and ring finger together, and pinky finger and thumb extended. The ending shot is of Morgan, seen through Chuck's hand pressed against the glass. At the very end, mid-fade, his hand slides down the glass.

Roll introductory credits.

Commercial break #1.


	2. The Adventure Begins

_I own no part of Chuck – none of the characters, none of the scenes, nothing. I just enjoy writing about it._

_This episode takes place after episode 2.3. It has no Emmett Milbarge, so it's presumably before 2.5, though it could be after that arc, depending on how it's resolved. The entire episode is written as if I were a writer for the show (with camera directions and everything)._

_Thanks to sharpasamarble for his beta reading._

_Please review and comment._

--

Start with a picture of an airplane taking off, to establish the setting. Cut to Sarah and Chuck in first class. Sarah is completely relaxed and comfortable (and in a different outfit). Chuck is still in his Nerd Herd shirt, but the tie and pocket protector are gone. He's obviously a bit agitated.

Sarah reclines her chair and reaches into her bag and pulls out a sleeping mask, but Chuck speaks before she puts it on. "Sarah, why are we going to Washington?"

Sarah stops unfolding the mask and puts it on her lap. She raises her seat back up. She turns in her chair to face Chuck. "Look, Chuck, do you remember Dr. Zarnow?"

"You mean the guy who blew up his own car, kidnapped you, and was going to torture you? When I landed a helicopter?" Chuck's voice just keeps getting drier. "No, I … uh … I have no idea who you're talking about." Chuck is trying to keep the mood light and humorous.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," Sarah answers, with a brief roll of her eyes. "But before that, he ran you through a series of tests at the Buy More. Apparently, he had preliminary discussions with headquarters before going rogue. All they've told me is that they're looking to repeat some of those tests, compare them against other baseline values, and better understand exactly what happened to you."

Chuck digests this news for a moment. He cocks his head. "Any idea why?"

Sarah makes a moue. "No, but I gather it has something to do with the Intersect they hope to get up and running in DC. And it may well have a bearing on your future. This is important, do your best."

Chuck turns serious. "Of course. I always do.. I want to be valuable enough to not be carelessly lost or forgotten." His voice is earnest and almost a little wounded.

Sarah replies, seriously, looking right into Chuck's soul, "I, for one, will never forget you." Chuck smiles, as Sarah settles down to sleep. Chuck starts playing a PSP. Fade to black.

Flash to outside of some Washington building. The NSA building at Fort Meade would be great, but it is probably impossible to film. The view is subtitled "Secure NSA Testing and Storage Facility, Near Ft. Meade, MD." The same building from the pilot episode would work OK – it has to be a very-obviously secure building. Zoom in towards it and flash to a relatively small room. It looks a lot like the home theater room at the Buy More, but with less colors and not as many speakers. A huge screen dominates one wall, though, and there's a couch. Chuck is sitting on the couch and he's obviously a little nervous, fiddling with his hands. Sarah is standing nearby.

Sarah has a calm, reassuring tone. "Just relax, Chuck. You've done this before. Just be yourself."

"Yeah, myself. That's easy for you to say. You're not the one who's going to have a headache tomorrow." Chuck is trying to joke, but it's not going very well.

Sarah walks in front of him, cups his chin, and forces his eyes up to meet hers. "I have full confidence in you." With those words, she lets go of him and exits through a door that practically disappears when it's closed. Chuck is alone.

The same disembodied voice which spoke during the Intersect initialization speaks. "When you are all ready, we can begin."

Chuck takes a deep breath before replying. "Ready." A pause, longer than would be strictly necessary, follows. It's long enough to feel almost awkward. Then an image flashes on the screen. It's a pie. Chuck starts to speak. "General Stanfield was due to arrive in Los Angeles on September 27, 2007…" as his voice fades.

Another voice takes up the narrative. "He was scheduled to give a talk at a hotel at 7:00 p.m. NSA intelligence indicates that a C4 bomb was to be used to eliminate the General during his talk." The camera started with a close-up of a mouth and zooms out to reveal another man in a room very similar to Chuck's. It is BigEars.

Cut to Morgan, actually helping a customer. "Yes, ma'am, the computer shows we have three of those in stock. I don't see any out here. They must be in back. One moment."

Cut to the Intersect computer room, flashing madly. Pull back through a wall to see a printer with paper pouring out. Part of one line is "General Stanfield". A technician is working furiously presenting information to the computer, typing at a keyboard and utilizing a corded webcam over various pictures.

Cut to Morgan. "I'm sorry, ma'am. I can't find any in the back." She glares at him. He seems basically unaffected. "If you would like to stay longer, I can look …" The woman has stalked off, leaving him to finish to nobody "again."

Cut to Neckbeard. "Pevgeroff was a Russian spy in Poland in 2003. He was pulled out after the second Gaszowice incident. His current location is unknown." He comes to a full stop here – silence for a brief period of time.

Cut to Chuck. "Pevgeroff reappeared in 2006 in the Kladno area, where he stole secret documents and auctioned them off. The latest reports are that he is rumored to be working in Estonia." Chuck stops here.

Cut to Lester at the Nerd Herd desk. "I'm sorry, sir. I can't promise you will get your computer back in less than two weeks. We will look at it, but our windows expert is out on vacation." The guy glares at Lester and walks away.

Cut to Sarah in Beckman's office. General Beckman is behind her elevated desk, so that Sarah is almost looking up at her, despite Sarah standing and the General being seated. Sarah is almost yelling. "What do you mean it's a competition? Competing against what?"

"Calm yourself, Agent Walker." Beckman's voice is her usual, devoid-of-emotion, dry husk. "We have been successful in creating additional Intersect agents. Considering the efficacy of your Operation Bartowski, the risk was deemed worth taking, for trained and loyal agents, specially chosen for this task." Beckman subtly emphasizes both trained and loyal.

"If you're insinuating that I can't be trusted…" Sarah's voice is half threatening, half pleading.

"Nothing of the sort," the general interrupts. "Nor do I doubt Major Casey. Chuck is a loose cannon, however. And we need to evaluate his continued usefulness to this organization."

The realization of the end – of the mission, of time with Chuck, maybe of Chuck – hits Sarah. She blanches. "What are you saying? If he doesn't measure up?"

Beckman glances at her computer monitor. "From what I'm seeing, that should be the least of his concerns."

Sarah looks puzzled as the scene fades out.

Fade in to the Buy More wall-of-TVs screen. Most are showing something innocuous – whales jumping – but one of them is just static. The camera pulls back to show Big Mike looking upset. "Patel!" he yells imperiously.

Lester comes running up. "What is it, Big Mike?" Lester looks a little harried – his tie isn't quite perfect; his eyes are drooping a bit. But he's as obsequious as ever.

"Look at this, Patel! What the hell is going on?!?"

"Umm…sir, it looks like the whales are breaching to bubble feed…" Lester's voice trails off in the face of the glare being leveled at him.

"Not that garbage. THAT garbage," Big Mike says, reaching out turn Lester's face to the fuzzed-out TV. "Fix it. And I mean, now." Big Mike turns to leave. As he's walking away, he adds "And don't even think about going home tonight until every TV is working right."

Lester turns to look at the TV wall. We zoom in on one particular TV, which goes to static, while the surrounding TVs are still visible. The camera zooms into the static.

When the camera zooms out of the static, it's on Chuck's room. Chuck looks tired but pretty satisfied. He's slowly massaging his temples and blinking his eyes. The voice speaks again "That is all for today, everyone. Good work. The next testing session will be in two days, starting at oh-nine-hundred hours."

Chuck's shoulders sag. It could be exhaustion or it could be the thought of doing it again in two days. The hidden door opens and Sarah comes in, backlit. He looks up and smiles – maybe one hundred watts. Sarah smiles back. "Care to see some of the capital, Mr. Bartowski?" she asks, cocking an eyebrow at him.

Chuck's smile brightens. "Yeah, that'd be fantastic. I don't suppose you know a good tour guide?" he asks as he walks over to her.

Sarah's look warns him away from anything too familiar. "I'm afraid not. You'll have to make do with me – you're too valuable to let go wandering on your own." Chuck's smile indicates that he doesn't seem to mind at all.

The camera goes on a whirlwind tour of Washington, D.C. We see the capital, the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, the Smithsonian, and come to rest in a small oriental restaurant. The whole thing is meant to give the impression of a whirlwind tour. The colors are all very bright and cheery and the music is upbeat. Chuck and Sarah are at the restaurant.

"Now", Sarah says, sounding a bit too chipper, "do you feel better?" She's obviously concerned about Chuck. Chuck appears to look great, though. He's dressed in subtle DC paraphernalia – a t-shirt with the Washington Monument in the upper left-hand corner and jeans. He looks pretty relaxed and comfortable.

Chuck smiles widely. "Yeah. It's been a great day. I don't know what the rest of the East Coast is like, but this was nice. Too bad DC has so many influential people around." Sarah flinches a bit at the thought. We see a brief flashback of Chuck flashing at some of the places mentioned above, and wincing slightly in pain. Chuck continues, "It was nice to get out of that dark room for a while. Any idea how long this adventure is going to last?" The word 'adventure' is dripping with sarcasm. Chuck doesn't like it, but he also isn't going to make a huge scene about it.

"Sorry about that, Chuck. You know the drill. Nobody who's not completely cleared can know where you are. I knew you wouldn't want to lie to your friends, so I made up the adventure. It's for their safety." Her eyes say what her mouth can't – please forgive me and don't hate me.

"I know. And thanks for not making me lie to them." Sarah's eyes relax and she smiles with her whole face, for the first time in the entire scene.

"My pleasure," she replies.

Commercial break #2


	3. Good News Turns Sour

The scene opens with Chuck back in the testing chamber. He is speaking in a tired monotone: "GOST is the cipher used by the Soviet Union throughout most of the 80s and 90s. It was built on 80 rounds of simple substitutions. The NSA has not yet fully broken the cipher, though partial message recovery is possible in about 30% of the cases." He looks tired. Zoom toward his tired eyes.

Fade out on Lester's eyes. If Chuck looks tired, Lester is exhausted. He has the zombie look typically associated with Jeff. As the camera zooms out further, we see that he's working on repairing a TV. He starts muttering to himself, very rapidly, "The video is getting in through the S-video cable fine. If I put in A/V cables, the picture works, so the problem isn't in the display or the communication. Where can the problem be? Maybe it's the… Wait, no, that can't… Maybe if I boot it into linux…" After the last phrase, he pauses, shakes his head and rubs his eyes. The camera zooms back further. Lester is in front of the TV wall. About half of them are showing snow now. One is completely black. The camera zooms out further to show that Lester's area is the only part of the store lit. It's night.

Cut to another test room like Chuck's. It has Baldie in it. Baldie is holding his hands over his eyes, shaking back and forth. He's muttering, but the volume is extremely mutable – from quiet to nearly shouting. "No more pictures. I can't do any more. There's just so many. I don't want to know what they hold. It's too much, you understand me? I can't do any more. I need rest. It's OK. The pictures can't get in with my eyes closed. I'm safe here." Fade to black.

"I'm sure our store is up to the fire code, sir." Anna is talking to a fireman. He's not in full uniform, but he has his badge on display. "We get the annual inspections and everything. I'm just not sure where they are." While she was speaking, she was leading him to the Nerd Herd desk. The glimpses we get of the store looks like the night of the beer party – it's in bad shape.

"I just need to check that everything is in order. We called last week to schedule this. You should have had everything ready." The fireman is annoyed at the delay. He's impatient but not mean.

Anna gets to the desk and goes behind. She maneuvers herself so that the inspector has a clear view. She bends at the waist to rummage in the bottom drawer. "I know, officer. They just have to be around somewhere. I'm not usually the one who does this." She finds nothing and turns around, pouting, and sticking out her chest. "Can you give us another week, officer?" she pleads, in her most sultry voice.

The fireman rolls his eyes, makes a mark on his notebook, and starts to walk out. Anna breathes a sigh of relief. Fade to black.

The scene lightens onto Sarah entering into Beckman's office. General Beckman speaks. "Agent Walker, thanks for coming. I need some more information on Mr. Barkowski. Has he ever been wrong on a flash?"

Sarah's forehead wrinkles. She speaks slowly, reluctantly. "He jumped the gun on the one incident with Lon Kirk. I wouldn't say he was wrong, per se, just that the two shipments were too similar in appearance. Every other time, he has been right."

Beckman harrumphs. She looks like she doesn't believe Sarah and expects a fuller answer. She just glares at Sarah. Sarah is looking a bit uncomfortable. Sarah speaks into the quiet. "General, we report every flash. You've seen the follow-ups to every one of them. Why ask what you already know?"

Beckman doesn't answer Sarah's question. She changes her tact, asking a new question. "How long does it take Chuck to recover after a flash? Or after a series of flashes?"

Again, Sarah picks her words with obvious care. "Sometimes … after a long day of flashes … like this testing … Chuck will mention a … headache. It has never affected his performance or his attitude, however." Beckman just grunts again, quietly. Sarah is obviously concerned and worried that her answers are not satisfying her superior. "Ma'am, what is going on?"

The camera changes to behind Beckman, viewing Sarah. A monitor split into six subscreens is in front of her. The view starts wide, with the monitor, much of the desk, and Sarah all in view. Beckman speaks to Sarah, while the camera zooms in on the monitor. "It seems your Mr. Bartowski is not as ordinary as we had originally thought." We briefly see Sarah's puzzlement before the camera zooms in to the monitor. It shows six rooms – five identical test rooms and the Intersect computer room control center. Chuck is still sitting upright and his mouth is moving. One of the rooms is empty. One room has Neckbeard, who is covering his eyes. TwoChins is massaging his temples, with his eyes shut. BigEars is just staring vacantly, not saying anything. The computer technicians are working frantically.

Cut to Jeff and Lester working in the cage. Lester's motions are similar to some of those of the technicians at the NSA headquarters. The walls behind them are full of machines. Machines are piled on the floor around them. Carts with piles of computers teetering dangerously are lined up outside the cage.

Lester is yelling at Jeff. "Come on. You know you can do this. Heck, I can do this with my eyes closed."

Jeff is obviously wasted. He's having trouble sitting upright, his blinks are way too slow, and his mouth is always hanging open. "Do what, Larry?" he manages to get out.

"Just fix this computer, buddy. Big Mike is all over me to get the TVs fixed and we have 13 PCs and 2 Macs promised to be delivered tomorrow. Just … don't drink for a bit and get a few things done for me, OK?"

Jeff nods, so Lester leaves the cage. As soon as Lester is out of sight, Jeff leans forward, looking, to make sure he's gone. Once he's sure, he leans back, reaches under the desk, pulls out a beer, and starts drinking.

Cut to Chuck drinking a grape soda. He's in a large cafeteria, sharing a table with Sarah. The tables are spaced further apart than is typical. Even though other people seem to be talking, their table is quiet. Noise dampeners are visible on the walls and ceiling.

Chuck asks Sarah "How am I doing?"

Sarah shrugs. "I don't know, Chuck. I just don't know what's going on."

Chuck looks hopeful. "Do you think they're trying to find a way to get this out of my head, so I can be normal again?"

Sarah smiles wistfully. "Chuck … I just don't know."

"I see." Chuck is disappointed. "So what have they had you doing while I've been watching the only movie stranger than 'A Clockwork Orange'? New ultra-gadgets to try out? Been talking about me?"

Sarah bites her inner lip for a fraction of a second before replying. "You know I can't tell you that."

Chuck is disappointed. "I have all the secrets of two agencies in my head and I can't be told what's going on right now. Does that make sense to you?"

Sarah shrugs and shakes her head. "It's not my call."

Chuck stands up. "Well, I guess I'd better get back to my four walls. I'm so glad I don't live there." He shudders for effect. Fade to white.

We switch to a shot of Ellie entering the Buy More. The shelves aren't fully stocked. The games which are normally playing at various points in the store aren't functioning. Ellie appears to be about the only customer not yelling at the poor guy stuck in the hole, where there's a line. Ellie comes in and looks around. Spotting Casey near the large appliances, Ellie walks over there. The appliance section looks well maintained – hardly any different from any other view we've ever had of it. Ellie goes up to Casey. "John…" Ellie hesitates. "I don't really know how to ask this. But I'm worried about Chuck." Casey grunt quizzically in reply. "It's just that…he doesn't usually just disappear. I know he and Sarah are on a lover's get-away, but he always at least answers his text messages. Are you sure they're OK?"

Casey grunts again. "I don't know where they went, if that's what you're asking. Don't worry. They're competent adults." He grunts caustically. "Well, one of them is."

Ellie shoots him a glare for that one. "Are you sure?" Ellie asks. "This is just so unlike the Chuck I thought I knew."

"Relax," Casey replies. "She probably just took him somewhere with no cell coverage. Or, heck, took away his phone altogether."

Ellie gasps in mock horror. "Two whole weeks without his cell phone? Chuck might go crazy!" she says, grabbing Casey's arm. Casey's glare causes her to drop her hand quickly, however.

Casey grunts suggestively. "Come on, do you really think Chuck wants to be interrupted when he's alone with Sarah? You really are his mother."

At first Ellie is offended, but as she thinks about it, the light dawns on her – she really was being overprotective. Ellie smiles. "Thanks, John. I know I get overprotective – long story. But I do feel better now." Ellie looks around and notices the condition of the Buy More. "Uhh…how's work?"

Casey just shakes his head. "I always knew this place would fall apart without Bartowski around. I just didn't realize it would happen this fast." Fade to black.

"Mr. Bartowski, your results are fantastic." General Beckman is addressing Chuck, while Sarah stands by, looking vaguely proud and vaguely nervous. "You recognized well over 98% of the images we showed you. Your recovery time between flashes is remarkable, as well. We had multiple agents tracking down just a portion of the leads that you uncovered. Well done." Chuck smiles at what seems to be good news. Beckman pauses a moment to allow Chuck time to bask in the praise. Chuck looks at Sarah, who returns a wan smile, from a few feet away. She's worried. Background music plays a reasonably happy tune.

"In fact, your results are so good and so much better than we had ever imagined, we can't let you return home." Chuck's smile vanishes instantly. The background music goes melancholy and sour. Sarah closes her eyes. The camera flashes on the two of them and returns to Beckman. "You will be taking up a new residence here in Langley – permanently." The camera moves to Chuck. He's looking desperately at Sarah, pleading with his eyes. Sarah doesn't look as surprised as Chuck. She looks between Beckman and Chuck. She also checks the exit, where the door is closed. Beckman drones on, unaffected, "The time has come, Mr. Bartowski, to say farewell to your former life and to start serving your country full-time. Come with me."

General Beckman gets up and exits through a side door, leaving no time for a response. Chuck looks at Sarah, who is staring after the departing Beckman. Sarah's feet are the first to move. Chuck follows in a daze, instinctively falling in right beside Sarah. Chuck's face shows his pure shock and inability to comprehend the situation changing so rapidly. Sarah recovers first and asks the only question she can ask her superior. "Who will be handling Chuck?"

Beckman doesn't even turn or vary her stride an iota. "We have professionals here. You will be reassigned to an active mission. Have no worries. You can forget all about Mr. Bartowski." Chuck's steps falter. Sarah stays right beside him, concern etched on her face.

"General Beckman?" a sharply-dressed man asks. "May I have a moment?" Beckman looks at him and nods. The camera moves to see Beckman beyond Sarah and Chuck, who have fallen a ways behind. Beckman turns to Sarah and Chuck. "Stay there. This is not for your ears."

The camera focuses in on Chuck and Sarah. They turn to face each other, both reaching out to hold hands but stopping before contact and letting their hands drop. Sarah speaks first, her voice full of concern, while she reaches up and brushes Chuck's hair behind his ear. "You're going to be OK." It's part command, part plead, and part question.

Chuck's face screams that he won't be OK. He looks crushed. Tears are threatening. "Does that mean this is good-bye?" Sarah bites the inside of her lip. She nods and looks down, not able to bear the pain of meeting his eyes. Chuck is left to speak again. "Will I ever see you again?" The tears in Sarah's eyes threaten to overflow as she shakes her head. Chuck bows his head. "This…", the words are coming hard for Chuck. He takes a deep breath and tries again, "It's just not how I imagined it would be. I never really believed I would have to say good-bye." His voice drops to the barest whisper, as he adds, "Not to you."

The two stand in silence a long moment, while the melancholy music fills the scene. Then, Sarah reaches out and cups Chuck under the chin, gently raising his head. She forces his eyes to meet hers, which are still sparkling with tears. She speaks now, slowly, hesitatingly, putting her whole heart into every word. "We … I … always knew this day might come. I'm sorry, Chuck. I really am."

Chuck meets her eyes for a few more seconds. Then his eyes dart around, memorizing every detail of his last moment of real life. Chuck starts to speak "I was nev …" but he looks back into Sarah's eyes and sees the agony there. His face twitches. Now it's Chuck who can't meet Sarah's eyes, as she drinks in his face one last time. "Yeah, I guess I knew, too. And I've been preparing myself." He gulps a couple times, then looks up. He meets Sarah's penetrating gaze briefly and then looks away. "I'm ready," he lies, the heart he wears on his sleeve breaking.

Sarah's face transforms quickly – confusion to understanding to heart breaking to complete mask, not letting any real emotion penetrate. "You can't fool me," she whispers quietly, "but … thanks." Chuck looks at her quickly, quizzically.

Any answer Chuck might have given is lost to an "Alright, you two. Let's go!" Beckman's voice interrupts their private conversation and shatters their last moments together. The camera shifts to Beckman's angle. Chuck starts guiltily, but Sarah is already facing Beckman, her face devoid of tears or emotion. They walk up to the camera, neither looking at each other. Sarah is the picture of studied concentration. Chuck's face still reflects the shock and distress of the situation. His eyes dart about nervously.

A few more steps and they reach a door with a small window. The glass is interlaced with diamond-shaped wire supports. The door slides opens (into the wall – it's a pocket door) and the inside looks a little like Chuck's room, except everything is wrong. The alarm clock is on the wrong side, with the bed pushed against the wall, the pillow is not flush to the wall, the game line-up is "The Sims 2", "The Sims 2: Pets", "Madden NFL: 2008", "Roller Coaster Tycoon", "Deer Hunter", and others like that. The whole place is too sterile, too bright. The cameras on each of the white walls are very conspicuous.

Chucks squares his round shoulders and walks in, but he turns around immediately after passing the threshold. He looks right at Sarah. Sarah looks back intently, with her lips tight and her jaw set. Sarah speaks with quiet force. "General, is there no other way?" The words are addressed at Beckman but meant for Chuck. The gaze between Chuck and Sarah is tangible.

The door slides shut as we hear Beckman say "No." The camera is focused on the spot where the window in the door was. The white door slides past, almost noiselessly. When the window comes back into focus, Chuck's devastated face is still peering out. Tears start running freely, as his eyes track away from center. Just before the camera fades out, he squeezes his eyes shut.

Commercial break #3

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_Author note: OK, I really am begging for reviews on this one. Please leave feedback on what worked or didn't work. And I still own no part of Chuck._


	4. Everybody's Moving On

_I still don't own or work with/for Chuck._

_Thanks to sharpasamarble and wendolf at for their beta reviews and comments._

* * *

The camera opens on Beckman's office, with a view of the general. Beckman is laying down the law in her normal authoritative voice. "Agent Walker, your new assignment is to work with Agent Brown. He is the most promising of the new Intersects." The only other person in the office is Sarah, who is the obvious recipient of the orders.

Sarah's eyes are puffy, but her look is calm and determined. Her voice, too, is very level and metronomic. "Ma'am, with all due respect, I would like to request some time off. I have not had any vacation in months. I have not had time to learn a new cover. This is too sudden." Sarah does not whine. If ever she would, though, this would have been the time. Yet, her spy mask is intact.

"I'm sorry, Agent Walker," General Beckman says, without a hint of sympathy in her voice, "but you are uniquely qualified to develop a new Intersect asset. At least Agent Brown is a trained agent, so you won't have to hold his hand, unlike your last mission."

"A new Intersect, who's an agent?" Sarah has just now put all the information together. And she's distinctly not happy about it. Her eyebrows pull together, a sign of impending mayhem to those who know her well.

Beckman replies with a curt "Yes. A field operative with that knowledge is too valuable to ignore. And too valuable to let dangle on his own. I will not be questioned on this. You will meet with Agent Brown and you will work with him. He is your new partner."

"Yes, ma'am," Sarah replies, very stiffly and formally and turns and marches out of the room, shutting the door behind her, just a trifle harder than is strictly necessary. The camera follows her out of the room without a good view of her face. The door shuts on the camera.

We cut to a picture of Chuck in his cell. He looks terrible, with bags under his eyes, and his hair even wilder than normal. His eyes aren't opened particularly widely – he looks tired, haggard, and depressed.

Cut to a view from over Chuck's shoulder. Chuck is viewing a monitor. All kinds of things are scrolling across it, at a reasonable speed – press clippings, still images taken from who-knows-where (but with odd backgrounds), short video clips (with bad clarity – like they were taken on a cell phone), etc. Chuck says after each item "Nothing".

When the sixth item is displayed (a picture of a man dressed as Santa), Chuck starts to flash. His eyes get the familiar look. A flash begins. The flash music starts, but it is off-key – something is definitely wrong. The flash only gets three frames in and stops. The visuals are extremely brief, but the atonal music continues. Chuck furrows his brow and closes his eyes. "Wait, stop." Chuck takes a deep breath and lets it out. He swallows visibly. He opens his eyes. "OK, let's start up again."

We again see the images changing. The man with the Santa suit appears again as the second image. Chuck just says "Nothing" in the same monotone he was using before. After the third image, we cut back to seeing Chuck's face. It is completely blank and his eyes are unfocused. The shot fades to black.

The scene cuts to Casey in the facility in the basement of the Orange Orange. He is sitting alone at the table normally occupied by all three members of Team Bartowski. General Beckman is on the screen.

"Good afternoon, Major Casey. I have good news for you."

Casey grunts cynically. "What's that, General?"

"Operation Bartowski is closing. You are in charge of cleaning up all the loose ends before returning to Washington. You have three days."

Casey raises his eyebrows at this news. "What's happening with Ch … the Intersect, then?"

The general does not take apparent notice of his slip. "Mr. Bartowski is remaining here in our care full-time. It seems he has quite a talent for this activity." She pauses and delivers a withering glare at Casey. "I'd say it's a good thing, too, as it appears both agents were becoming overly fond of their asset."

Casey matches her glare with one of his own. "What I am supposed to tell his family?"

"Tell them he went missing in an avalanche while skiing. That he died in a terrible car accident. Anything. You know the drill." Beckman has signs of additional annoyance creeping into her voice.

Casey is sitting quite still. "With due respect, ma'am, you don't know these people. They will demand a rescue mission if he's lost. They'll organize a drive to fund a mission to find him. And if I tell them he's dead, his sister will want to do an autopsy. She's a doctor, for crying out loud."

"Well, then, Major," Beckman is now giving a direct order. Her tone suggests that Casey has overdrawn his backtalk budget for the next three months. "I suggest you figure out what you're going to say, and do it quickly. I expect you in my office in 72 hours. We have a new assignment for you. Beckman out."

The screen goes dark. Casey sits quietly for a moment and then crashes his fists onto the top of the table, nearly breaking it.

Cut to a cheesy American restaurant – it looks like a slightly lower-class TGIFriday's or Applebee's – where Sarah is standing near the front door. She is dressed in nondescript clothes that neither flatter nor fully disguise her figure. She is wearing a large hummingbird pin on her chest. The maitre d' is seating a couple when a man walks in. We recognize him as Neckbeard. He looks up at Sarah (she's a good two inches taller than he is) and focuses in on the hummingbird. He leers at her, up and down, a couple times, before walking over. He leans in unnecessarily close and whispers in her ear, "Exquisite pin. Absolutely exquisite." The word 'exquisite' is emphasized both times, despite Sarah's slight nod at the first use of the codeword.

Sarah shudders and shies away from him a bit, but she is wearing her professional mask. "Thanks. It was a gift from my Oma." At the word 'Oma', Neckbeard nods.

Neckbeard extends his hand. "Agent Brown. Matt Brown." He announces this like he was announcing the winner of a major award.

"Sarah Walker." Her voice holds no warmth.

He aggressively takes her hand. "Well, let's eat and find out more about each other." As they walk to a table, Matt again ogles Sarah. A flash goes off, capturing the two of them together. Neither one notices.

After they sit, Sarah speaks again, coldly. "Well, Agent Brown, can you brief me on this mission? I have had insufficient information."

He raises his eyebrows cockily. "Why, certainly, darlin'." Brown has a southern drawl which he is only occasionally successful at disguising. "You have expertise in a certain area and I am the newest and greatest version to come out. I'll spot the bad guys and take 'em down." Matt is exuberant about 'taking them down' – he even makes a gun with his fingers and fires when he talks about it. He concludes, "You can just keep me happy."

Sarah growls at that – it sounds like she's nearly perfected her imitation of Casey. "And what's our cover?" she bites off through clenched teeth.

"Our cover?" Brown glances left and right quickly. Then he licks his lips. "Why, boyfriend and girlfriend, of course."

"Oh? Really?" Sarah is unconvinced.

"Certainly. And I'm supposed to take that pin back to my supervisor to indicate your willingness to follow your mission." His voice has taken on a bit of an edge. He reaches towards Sarah's chest, with both hands, and a determined expression.

Sarah is far too quick for him, though. She slaps his hands away before they get anywhere close to her. "I'll get it," she hisses at him. While she's casually removing the pin with one hand, Brown stiffens. He looks from side-to-side and shakes ever so slightly. After a second or so, he lets his tongue loll out of his mouth a bit. Sarah is nonplussed, but she asks, "What was that?"

"That man," he says, pointing to TwoChins, who had just entered the restaurant, "is a Fulcrum agent." Matt Brown shakes his head quickly, as if shaking away cobwebs. "I'll arrange for him to have an accident on his way home tonight."

"What?" Sarah asks. "No. That's not right. We need to report this in and …"

Matt interrupts. "No. It's too dangerous. If he makes me, I'm a goner. Don't worry your pretty little head about it." He reaches out and pats her hand, once, at which point she yanks it away, disgustedly. "Matt will take care of everything."

Cut to an exterior of the Buy More. It looks normal, except there are almost no cars in the parking lot.

Go inside the Buy More. It's pretty empty. The TV wall is an utter mess – about half are showing static and half are blank. Only one TV is still working. A ladder blocks the main walkway, near nothing which would require a ladder.

A customer is standing at the Nerd Herd desk, ringing the bell. "Hello…" she calls. "I need help here." Nobody comes. The camera follows over her shoulder to the one TV which is working.

The TV is showing a picture of a mangled automobile. The camera zooms in on the picture, while the news announcer is commenting, "A terrible accident on the Parkway claimed the life of 23 today. According to witnesses, it started when this vehicle started weaving out of control. It struck two cars going northeast before crossing over to hit three southwest-bound cars. Police are still investigating the cause." A picture of TwoChins has been growing in the top right corner of the TV. The announcer continues, "The driver is believed to have been Arthur Milner of Baltimore, who…." The TV then flashes and burns out, going black.

Commercial break #4


	5. Is it Really the End?

_Continued thanks to wendolf at and sharpasamarble at for their beta reads and helpful comments._

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The scene opens with a wide view of the Ft. Meade building – the imposing structure where Chuck is now imprisoned. We jump inside to his room. A small panel in the mostly featureless wall opens. On it is food (a sandwich, a bag of generic potato chips, an apple, and a container of yogurt), as well as a USB thumb drive.

Chuck, still looking more like a zombie than a person, walks over to the tray. He opens the sandwich. Inside is cheap bologna, off-center cheese, and lettuce which is browning on the edges. He picks up the bag of chips, looks at it, and tosses it back down on the tray. Finally, he grabs the yogurt, a spoon, and the USB drive. He opens the yogurt as he walks over to a computer keyboard, mouse and monitor.

Chucks sits in front of the monitor and spoons a bite of yogurt into his mouth. He swallows and sighs before inserting the thumb drive carefully into a USB slot on the keyboard. His hand moves toward the mouse but stops before touching it. He takes another bite of yogurt and carefully swallows, before putting it back down. A reach and flick of the mouse causes the monitor to flicker to life. A short series (only a few seconds) of pictures flicker across the screen. Chuck stiffens with his eyes locked open but he doesn't fall over. "I hate these daily updates," he mutters under his breath and takes another bite of yogurt, while walking over to his bed.

He lies down and stares up at the ceiling for a long moment. Sighing, he reaches over to the night-side stand grabs his wallet, which he flips open to the back of the pictures. The camera moves to the pictures – the whole Buy More gang crowded around the Nerd Herd counter, Captain Awesome holding Ellie from behind, a picture of Ellie's hand complete with diamond ring, … At this point, the wallet starts shaking and the sound of Chuck sniffling is apparent. The pictures continue to Morgan with a Guitar Hero guitar and a weird expression on his face, to Chuck's whole family (Morgan, Ellie, Awesome, and Chuck at their Halloween party). From the shape of the wallet, one picture still remains. But Chuck hasn't flipped to it; eventually his hand appears, quivering slightly. The last picture is Sarah, by herself, with a brilliant smile on her face. "Please, save me" is a barely audible whisper before the wallet drops to the bed.

The scene fades out and returns to an Italian restaurant – it's like an Olive Garden, although not as nice. It definitely looks and feels like part of a chain, though.

Agent Matt Brown is talking. "I'll have the chicken parmesan. And my little lady here," he said, gesturing to an irate Sarah Walker, "will have a salad and the shrimp scampi." He hands both menus to the waiter. Sarah gives the waiter a smile, which lasts until he turns away, at which time the smile is replaced by fury.

She reaches and grabs Matt by the arm, digging in with her nails. His eyes widen in pain. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" she asks.

"Trying," he gasps, "to make our cover believable."

"Are we suddenly in the 60s? And who's this cover supposed to be protecting us from, anyway?" Sarah is clearly not happy.

"You'll find out in due time, sweetcakes," he says, as his phone starts to ring. He pulls it out and holds it up to his ear. "Brown here, not secure." He pauses a moment and then says "Excellent. The extra arrangement I requested?" He smiles broadly at the answer on the phone, throwing a lecherous glance at Sarah. Meanwhile, Sarah has picked up her fork and spoon and is holding them like chopsticks, with a wistful expression on her face.

Cut to the basement of the Orange Orange. The wall of computers and videos is nearly blank. Only two monitors are still active. The music is muted and subtle, but it's tinged with sorrow. Casey is standing in front of the control panel, looking grim. He types at a keypad for a moment and the remaining two screens go black. A few LED lights still glow on the control panel.

As Casey is walking out, he drags the fingertips of one hand along the top of the table. Casey stops at one specific spot and focuses at one point on the table. A quick flash of a smile appears on his face but disappears quickly. He walks on. At the base of the stairs, he again pauses and looks over the room. He shakes his head and continues up the stairs. At the top, he steps up to the railing overlooking the entire room. He grabs the railing and pulls himself to his full height, taking a deep breath, as if to deliver an oration. He blows it out with a snarl and turns around. He turns out the light and departs, the room sealing shut securely behind him. The camera pans across the deserted, nearly dark room, before fading out.

The scene cuts back to Chuck's room. He wanders over to the video game selection and stares at it stupidly for a moment. Then he shakes his head. He turns to one of the cameras mounted on the wall. "Can …." He has to swallow and start again. "Can I get some real video games in here?" His voice sounds funny, like he hasn't spoken in a long time. "Not like you answered last time, either," he mutters to himself.

With a sigh, he sits down on the bed. He lays back with his eyes wide open. With a groan, he gets back up and goes over to a bookshelf. He closes his eyes and pulls out a book at random. It is _Happiest Days_ by Wil Wheaton. Chuck grimaces at the reminder of what he is missing. Despite the positive book and his predicament, he sits down at his desk with the book. He opens it and starts to read. The camera zooms in on the book. Chuck flips a page.

During the flip of the page, the scene changes – the page is larger and is now part of a three-ring binder, which becomes visible as the camera zooms out. As the view continues to widen, Morgan appears in the break room, at the Buy More. He is sitting cross-legged on one of the break chairs, engrossed in a quite large book. Anna comes in and Morgan doesn't even look up. "Morgan," she says, "there you are. I was wondering where …" She trails off as she sees what he's doing. She tilts her head quizzically. "What? What are you doing, Morgan?"

"Oh, hey, Anna." Morgan holds up the book for her inspection. "I'm just reading the Buy More manual."

"You?!? Why are you doing that?" Anna squats down next to him, causing her skirt to ride up even higher on her thighs. She puts a hand on his forehead. "Are you sick, honey?"

Morgan puts the book on the break table and grabs her hands. He looks deep into her eyes. "Have you been out there lately?" Morgan shakes his head. "Chuck told me to take care of this place. If he thinks … well, it may sound silly, but if it's important to him that I do it, I've gotta do it. I've just …"Anna puts a finger over his lips to cut him off. She shakes her head ever so slightly.

"I always knew Chewbecca was more than he appeared." She punctuates the words with a kiss on his forehead. "What can I do to help?" She is very tender, and Morgan smiles a great big smile.

"This stuff isn't so hard. I can get the sales stuff, if you can take care of the Herders." Morgan actually sounds excited about his job, as the scene fades out.

Cut to Casey's apartment. He is in the middle of packing all the pieces of an assault rifle into a special case. A number of other cases, similar in appearance, are already fully packed. The only things remaining out, as the camera pans across the room, are two pictures of Ronald Reagan and Casey's bonsai trees. As he finishes packing the rifle, Casey sighs. He attaches a label saying Major John Casey, NSA, Ft. Meade, MD. He attaches a second label bearing the warning "Munitions – handle with care".

He goes over to the pictures of Ronald Reagan. "I guess this is it, sir. We're on the move again." He shakes his head as he continues, "never thought I'd be this sorry to see a mission end successfully." He packs the pictures quickly. After he's done, he pops the battery from his cell phone and packs the two of them separately, in a ready-made foam container for the two pieces. He adds his watch and the necklace he gave Ilsa, which he was carrying in the pocket of his pants. Lastly, he packs up one bonsai tree, adding a pre-measured amount of water to a bag and sealing the tree inside. That, too, goes into the final crate, which he does not label and places near the door. The scene fades to black.

The scene opens with Beckman in her office, talking to a technician. "You're certain? He's missed on seventeen potential flashes in the last two days?" She doesn't seem happy at the thought.

The technician is obviously intimidated. "Yes, ma'am … general … ma'am. On occasion, we've observed some of the same physical reactions that we noted in the initial testing – pupil dilation, shallowness of breaths, abnormal activity in the occipital cortex in the right hemisphere. But they don't last as long as the initial observations indicated. Repeated stimulus with the same image causes no reaction, which is also a change from what we saw during the initial testing."

Beckman glowers down at her. "What's the cause? Why is this happening?"

The technician melts under the power of the stare. "I'm sorry, ma'am. We just don't know. The whole operation is still so new. It's probably some change in variable we hadn't ever considered before." The technician is basically babbling at this point.

"Will he recover?"

"We don't know, ma'am. This is completely new to us. It's entirely possible that he'll return to his previous functioning level with no input from us. It's at least as likely that we are doing permanent damage to him by keeping him here. There's really no way to tell except by experimentation."

"What you're telling me is that Mr. Bartowski could potentially never recover?"

"Yes, ma'am." The technician gulps audibly after that response.

"What would be the best way to encourage recovery?" Beckman's tone clearly indicates she wants an answer she likes.

"We – we don't really know, ma'am. There are so many variables that complicate …"

The technician isn't allowed to finish. "What do you THINK would be best?" The barbs on the question cause the technician to flinch again.

"Return the subject to his original conditions, ma'am." The answer is clearly one the technician had already mentally prepared. It comes in a rush, as if the technician is afraid of the response the answer will engender.

"And if that's not possible?" The sentence is clipped, with a pause after each word. Each word also gets progressively colder and more bitter.

"I don't know, ma'am. Return as much as possible. We really don't understand the how the Intersect interfaces with a human brain that well yet. As you know, the one subject has already been diagnosed as clinically insane. There are just too many variables and too little data. I'm sorry, general … ma'am."

The scene fades out and fades back in to Chuck's room. Chuck is watching pictures flow past again – not an Intersect update, an attempt to get him to identify something. As the pictures go by, he doesn't even speak any more. He just shakes his head.

When a picture of Sarah Walker and Matt Brown flashes up, Chuck's eyes contain no spark of recognition. The next picture (an automatic weapon) is up before there's any reaction. "Wait," he says thickly through the paste in his mouth. "Stop. Back up one." The picture of Sarah and Matt reappears.

Chuck flashes. It's a full flash on Matt Brown. The music is right. He really triggers full-fledged. The flashes show a Visine bottle, Matt Brown, his CIA badge, Tommy, a train running off the tracks, dead bodies, a Visine bottle, a closed manilla folder, and a few more things. Chuck suddenly becomes fully alert, his eyes focused and his glances sharp again. "Who's that man with Sarah?"

The disembodied voice replies, "Agent Walker is no longer any concern of yours."

Chuck bows his head in defeat. "I know that. It's just … it's just that he's a member of Fulcrum."

Commercial break #5

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Review, rate, and comment, please. Just below! It's quick, easy, and the only way authors get paid.


	6. Trying to Get Home

_I still don't any of Chuck. If you want to donate, I'll make a bid! :D_

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"Where are we going?" Sarah asks Matt Brown, who is taking her for a ride, driving a white Ford Taurus. "I don't like being left out of the loop."

"Listen, Agent Walker. I know you think you're hot stuff, but I'm running this outfit. This little meet is important for getting everything squared away. You checked with Agent Amros, like I suggested, didn't you?" Matt is driving through a reasonably deserted part of Baltimore, and not doing it too well. Seeing Sarah's sullen nod, he continues, "Then stop complaining and do your job."

Cut to the inside of the NSA building.

"Look," Chuck is saying, "Agent Brown was away from his partner and off-grid for exactly the same times as Tommy Cordero was, on the 15th of November, the 22nd of December, January 11th, and March 22nd. Their phone records indicate that both phones were in use simultaneously. They had to be communicating." Chuck pauses expectantly. He's talking to a person, but we see nothing of the person except a bit of the back of their head occasionally. We don't even know if the listener is male or female.

Chuck obviously doesn't get the reaction he wants. He sighs. "OK, and this. What about this? Agent Brown had a 72% efficacy rating between November and early April, when we captured Tommy. That almost exactly matches the record of Agent Sifton, who is a known Fulcrum agent, under observation. Sifton also reported to Tommy and the failed/successful missions match exactly. After Tommy's capture, both reverted to the near-perfect CIA average of 88%. That's not a coincidence."

Cut to the interior of the Buy More. Green shirts and Nerd Herders are lined up along both sides of the main passage, and Morgan is walking down the middle like a general inspecting his troops. Anna is with him. "All right, people," he says in a really poor John Wayne impersonation. "We've had a rough stretch here. But we're Buy More employees. We can rise to the occasion. We will make the TV wall glamorous again. We will take pride in our store. Can we do it?!?"

The people resound with nothing more than a quiet, indistinct murmur.

Morgan tries again. "Come on, you'd do it for Chuck." The rest of the workers at the Buy More perk up a lot. They're still grumbling, but a couple of the grumbles are starting to sound more positive.

"Let's make it happen! For Chuck!" The interest level continues to rise, but it's still very faint.

Anna speaks next. "You'll do it," she says, "or I'll use your hair for mopping my kitchen for the next month." Fear works where appeals didn't fully. Eyes open fully and nearly all the heads are now nodding.

Morgan is looking at his watch. "Alright, people," he says, "it's almost showtime. You know the drill. In 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1 …." The scene fades to black as we hear a ringing sound.

The ringing sound is coming from a phone. Zoom out from the back of the phone (no idea who's calling). Sarah answers the phone, while still riding in the car with Agent Brown. "Walker here." Her voice is reasonably brusque – she's not so much angry as all business. She sends a quick glare at Matt but continues, "Secure." She listens for a moment, intently. "Got it. Walker out." No change in her demeanor is apparent.

Sarah, watching Matt carefully out of the corner of her eye, casually puts the phone deeply into her purse, in an attempt to disguise a quick search in it. Her hand comes out with a gun at the same moment that the car goes down a ramp into an underground parking lot. She whips the gun around to point at her new partner. "OK, that's far enough. Just pull over slowly."

Surprisingly, Matt smiles. "OK," he says simply, with an almost imperceptible shrug of his shoulders. "I was planning on stopping here anyway." He pulls the car over to where four reasonably large men are waiting. Sarah's gun on him never wavers.

The camera zooms in on the gun and fades out to a very different gun – a gun used for inventory. A small team of green shirts is working back in the storage area behind the Buy More, manually inventorying the whole store. Lester is there, with a laptop computer. "This isn't right," he says. "But it's close. We can work with this. Keep it up, guys."

Fade back to the underground parking garage, where the men are approaching the car. "Stay away," Sarah calls out, "or I'll shoot him." She gestures slightly at Matt Brown with the gun, to make her meaning clear.

Surprisingly, Matt seems unconcerned. "Come get her," he calls out, "but don't mess her up too badly. I want … I mean, Fulcrum wants her to not lose her looks." He leers at Sarah, then focuses on the gun. "You should know I unloaded that thing this morning. You've gotten too trusting." He smirks at her surprised reaction.

As the first man nears the car door on Sarah's side, she slams the door open into his midsection. He starts to double over in pain, while she jerks the door back mostly closed, before kicking it back open, smashing the car door into the first man's head, sending him sprawling. Sarah follows quickly behind the door, running bent over. She is heading for a line of cars.

A shot is fired. A bullet whines near Sarah. But Matt Brown calls out, "No! Don't kill her. Fulcrum wants her alive. Just capture her. You have her outnumbered." By the time he's finished talking, Sarah has reached the safety of the vehicles and has darted between them, vanishing from sight. The three remaining goons holster their guns, draw dart guns, and take off into the gloom, toward the general area where Sarah disappeared.

Cut to the TV wall at the Buy More. Jeff is working with three greenshirts, trying to lift down a TV from the wall. The TV is obviously too heavy for them. Casey walks by and shakes his head, snorting quietly to himself. Or not to himself, as Morgan materializes in front of him. "Instead of mocking us non-gym-rats, do you think you could help us out here?"

"Help you guys?" Casey puts a lot of scorn into his voice. "Why would I do that?"

"Because it's your job? Don't you take any satisfaction in doing your job? Besides," Morgan adds semi-confidentially, "I promised Chuck. I owe him. You owe him, too, I would think." Morgan walks away.

Casey rolls his eyes with a snarl. He mutters something about owing Bartowski a swift kick. His snarl grows into a full-fledged growl as he turns around and lifts a TV, by himself, onto the wall. He turns to an opened box and flashes out a knife. The camera follows the knife, zooming in closely. The knife plunges into the tape holding the box together, slides through easily, and then is removed.

As the knife is being withdrawn, the scene changes to another knife being withdrawn. This knife is coming out of Sarah's ankle sheath. The camera zooms out to Sarah, squatting between two vehicles. She is actually standing on the rear tires of two SUVs with tinted windows.

The camera moves to the show the remaining three goons moving through the parking. They are taking it in turns to advance, while the other two look under vehicles at different angles, to visually inspect the area before it's moved into. The advancement is cautious but quick, as the three work together in tandem quite well.

The lead goon reaches the gap where Sarah is hiding. He turns in surprise, caught by a sudden whistling sound. Sarah's thrown knife catches him between chin and collarbone and he goes down in a heap. The other two react immediately. One gestures and within two seconds, they both leap into the gap, dart guns raining into the space where the knife originated.

Sarah is not there. The camera follows a dart as it is winging its way between the two vehicles. The camera starts showing the back wall, but turns during the flight to show one of the SUVs. At the last second, as the shot goes into slow-motion, we see Sarah behind the SUV. She is crouched, uncomfortably low, with one foot on the SUV and the other gripping a crack in the cement wall of the parking garage. She has a knife in her hand. The camera continues towards the wall, where it hits with a smack.

The smack was made by the sound of boxes hitting the floor. The camera reappears in the back room of the Buy More. Casey and Jeff are unloading boxes, which are coming off a truck. Casey is sweating fairly heavily. Jeff looks a little overwhelmed, but he is working. After they move about three boxes, Jeff starts to slyly reach into his pocket. He pulls out a flask. Before he can get a drink, however, Anna whizzes by on a Segway, snatching it out of his hand, with one hand. Her other hand contains papers.

The camera follows Anna's Segway, past the cage, where Lester and an anonymous Nerd Herder are both deep in repairing some of the mountain of machines. After she passes the cage, the camera catches a large stockpile of unboxed TVs, just sitting semi-haphazardly in the open space. Anna continues into the main Buy More area, which is now looking significantly better. The TV wall is essentially flawless, though a couple of screens have a slight list to them. She breezes past Morgan, who is exhorting other green-shirts. We catch a portion of his speech. "that we here highly resolve that those vacationers shall not have departed in vain – that this store, under Big Mike, shall have a new birth of sales – and that the store of the Green Shirts, by the…"

Anna screeches to a stop at the Nerd Herd station. She hands the papers to the fire detective who had been there earlier. He looks at them briefly and returns them. "All is in order. Thanks." He says to her, before turning to leave.

The camera cuts to a view behind Sarah. She is moving slowly, carefully reaching into her ankle sheath, pulling out her final knife, having shifted her first knife to her left hand. As she withdraws it, her arm keeps moving, tossing the knife over her head, without watching it.

It clatters, unnaturally loud in the stillness of the garage. A fraction of a second later, Sarah leaps from her hiding place, catching the far man facing away and the near one with his gun slightly down. The near man never gets a chance to raise his gun, as Sarah kicks it away, while shifting her knife to her right hand.

Sarah is careful to stay between the goon and the wall. His right hand grabs above his left hip and comes out with a long, wicked knife, clutched in a backhand grip. His face is no longer calm but it is contorted with anger and rage. He raises the knife, blocks Sarah's kick with his left arm and begins a wicked stab aimed directly at her neck.

Then his eyes widen and he goes limp. Sarah deflects the knife, which was still falling, by gravity now, though, instead of with the man's force behind it. It cuts into her left arm, which begins bleeding. Her right arm has gone under his armpit, so she can half hold him up.

The camera switches to behind the remaining goon, who is firing his gun rapidly. Thump – thump, the tranquilizer darts hit his comrade's broad back. The form of the goon, with Sarah nearly invisible behind the body, is advancing. The remaining goon is backing up.

Thump. Click. He looks at the gun in disbelief. His head snaps back up, as his comrade's dead body falls to the floor. His eye suddenly blossoms with a knife hilt. He falls backwards, leaving all three bodies in a fairly neat row.

Cut to Sarah, who is breathing hard, her death mask on full display. She starts to carefully step past the men, when Matt appears, blocking her exit. He is smiling.

Cut to Big Mike's smiling face. The 'troops', sans Casey, are lined up, in their general inspection line. "I never would've believed it. You got this place back in shape without Bartowski! Who's responsible?"

The camera pans left across Jeff's eyes, which are looking to his left, to Lester's eyes, which are also looking left, to Morgan, who is looking ahead modestly, with a semi-cocky grin on his face, to Anna who is looking right, with a lustful grin.

Anna pinches Morgan's rear, causing him to jump forward. Morgan says "We all are, sir. Everybody worked on this."

Anna adds "Yeah, but you inspired us and got us going. Thanks, Morgan." She then adds in a sultry whisper that everyone can hear, "And I'll show my personal appreciation tonight." Morgan's smile grows, and he looks over his shoulder at her.

"I'm impressed, Grimes." Big Mike's voice shows his surprise. "Now, all y'all, get outa here!" The ranks break as they all run for the exit, except Morgan, who walks out slowly, basking in his moment.

The camera cuts back to a view of Sarah and Matt. Matt begins speaking. "Very nice, Sarah." He congratulates her with a lop-sided smile. "But now you're out of knives. And you haven't dealt with me yet." He gestures at himself with a flourish.

Sarah simply looks at him confusedly. She shakes her head slightly, smirks, and drops him with one roundhouse kick. He falls in a heap. Sarah checks his pulse and smiles.

Cut to General Beckman's office. She is smiling at Sarah. "Very, very good, Agent Walker. By apprehending Brown alive, you've given us a valid Intersect for experimentation and quick validation of certain images. We'll find many uses for him." Her smile has turned grim.

Sarah's question is on another topic. "How is Chuck doing, general?" Sarah tries to ask the question in an off-handed manner, but her voice betrays how important the question really is to her.

Beckman consults her notes, flipping through pages as she speaks. "Not well. In fact, I'm afraid I will have to deny your vacation request yet again. You are to accompany Mr. Bartowski back to LA and reinsert him into his normal life. Undo whatever damage Major Casey might have done with his cover story." During her talk, Sarah's face goes from concern to disappointment to hope to elation to serious.

"Is there anything else, ma'am? Or can I collect my ass … the asset and return him home?" Sarah's voice betrays a bit of emotion, but she is guarding it pretty well.

"Actually, there is." Beckman puts down her notes to look seriously at Sarah, as the scene ends.

Casey is showing about as much emotion as he ever has – in other words, very little, though a little agitation is visible around the edges of his calm. He's wearing a t-shirt with a Crown Victoria on it, standing in front of the door of Ellie and Awesome's apartment. After a brief moment, he sets his face and knocks.

Ellie opens the door, wearing blue scrubs. "Yes, John, what is it?"

"Miss Bartowski, please sit down." Ellie is obviously confused by the formal address and the tone of Casey's request. Devon is already sitting, so Ellie snuggles up near him. The camera shows Casey scanning the room. As the camera pans across the room, it catches a brief movement behind Chuck's door.

"Mr. Grimes," Casey calls out. "You should hear this, too. Get out here." Morgan sheepishly exits Chuck's room, still holding an XBOX-360 controller. He moves to sit near Ellie, but her glare steers him to a chair. Casey remains standing.

"I have been ordered," Casey begins, chewing off his words, "to tell you that Chuck died in a skiing accident." All three members of Chuck's family gasp, but Casey doesn't let them really get started. "BUT", he says, holding up a finger, "that's not the truth."

"I've watched you," he continues. "I believe you can be trusted with this. Chuck has been put into a special underground security bunker, where he can continue to use his unique skills to further aid his great country." The camera shows horror, shock, and disbelief on Awesome and Ellie's faces, while Morgan is rapt with barely-contained excitement. Casey continues telling everything, "I am part of the NSA and I have been protecting him ever since…"

At this point, the door bursts open. Chuck pushes in, with the pink suitcase. Sarah is immediately behind, also carrying a suitcase. Casey is immensely shocked to see them, but he covers it up pretty quickly. Ellie is relieved to see him and comes over to give him a hug. "Chuck!" she cries out, excitedly. "John was just telling us some weird story about you being locked in an underground bunker."

"He was doing what?!?" Sarah asks, her anger directed at Casey and not at Ellie.

Morgan interrupts, while sideling up to Casey. "An NSA agent? That's cool, though not as cool it would be to be a CIA agent…."

"Morgan", Ellie's interruption is commanding, "not now!" She turns to her brother and asks "Chuck, what is going on here?"

Chuck sighs. "It's my fault," he says, while Sarah and Casey look on, Sarah semi-threateningly. "It all started with this email I got…" Sarah's eyebrows shoot up, but Chuck gestures that she should calm down. Chuck turns to Casey "I warned you that that new dot-hack Worlds of Solace cross-over was intense. I never should have let you borrow it."

Casey's look is intense. "What are you talking about, Chuck?" he growls.

Chuck sighs. "The new video game I was supposed to review? The one I wasn't going to have time for because of my vacation?" Chuck is visibly willing Casey to get it. The camera cuts to Morgan, who looks offended and aghast.

"I…you mean…" Casey is acting, now, and doing it semi-poorly. He still looks confused, but he's acting confused now. He's putting on a show. He turns to Ellie and Devon. "I'm sorry. I guess I got confused." He starts to walk out.

Devon escorts Casey out and grabs the remaining two suitcases from just outside the door. As he comes in, he shuts the door, shaking his head. "That dude really needs to learn to separate reality from fantasy." The camera catches the snort of laughter from both Chuck and Sarah, though Ellie doesn't.

Ellie comments with a sigh. "I thought maybe one of your friends would be different. I guess he's like the others." The last comment is punctuated with a glare at Morgan, who tries to look offended.

Morgan gives up the effort and turns to confront Chuck. "What's the deal with sharing a new beta with that guy and not with me, huh?" he demands. Chuck just looks at him disapprovingly. Morgan cowers a bit, but he pushes on. "What? Just because I got you removed from **one** beta project…" Chuck raises his eyebrows further. "OK, fine, three projects, doesn't mean you have to cut me off completely."

Chuck looks at the controller still in Morgan's hands. "And why were you here tonight instead of at your place?" he asks.

Morgan pulls himself to his full height. "If you are insinuating that I came over to steal the codes to the new Gears of War, I am insulted." He hands the controller to Chuck and stalks out the door.

Chuck, with a big grin on his face, calls after Morgan, "I'll help you copy it tomorrow, buddy."

As the door shuts behind Morgan, Ellie says, "At the risk of being repetitive, that guy really needs to learn to separate fantasy from reality."

"Speaking of reality," Sarah jumps in. "I have to work tomorrow. Can I borrow Chuck for another couple hours to help with unpacking?"

Ellie isn't sure – "He just got home" she protests.

But Awesome knows the score. "Need one last tango to end things on?" he laughs. "Awesome."

Chuck looks at Awesome and indicates Sarah with his eyes. He looks like he's worried she might be offended. But Sarah just says, flatly, "That's pretty much it, yeah."

Chuck turns to look at Sarah, curiosity and hopeful joy warring across his face. Then he turns back to his sister. "OK, then. Bye." Chuck opens the door to let Sarah out. Ellie and Devon look at each other and shake their heads, as the scene fades out.

Chuck's voice comes from behind the closed door to Sarah's room, where keys are audible. "An update in the car? Seriously?"

The door opens. "Yeah, sorry about that. But there is one silver lining to this whole mission," Sarah is saying as Sarah and Chuck enter her room. Sarah is carrying a relatively small, heavy box, along with her purse. Her arm is bandaged but does not seem to be bothering her at all. Chuck has a larger box, walking in behind her.

As Sarah is putting her box down effortlessly on the bed (making a large depression – it's a heavy box), Chuck asks "What's that?" He adds, "Besides getting some of your old stuff out of storage?" as he plops down his box. It bounces a bit and makes a significantly smaller impression on the bed.

"Well," Sarah says, stretching her arms and moving towards Chuck, "I got the chance to convince General Beckman that we needed more private time together." She puts her arms around his waist, protectively.

Chuck's eyes widen slightly, while his smile widens greatly. "Why's that?" he asks, returning the hug, with his arms around Sarah's shoulders.

"To make…" she says slowly, tilting her head and leaning in. Camera changes to Chuck, leaning back in towards Sarah, while she continues "me hap…" She is interrupted by her phone ringing.

Snarling, she jams a hand into her purse and brings the phone to her face. General Beckman's picture is briefly visible on the screen as she brings the phone up. "Walker here. Secure. What?!?" Sarah snaps into the phone. She listens a moment. "Yes, Operation 'Nahal Sorek' is proceeding. Is that all?" but her angry voice is fading in volume after the words 'Nahal Sorek'.

When those two words were uttered, we see Chuck starting to flash. The standard flash music is playing behind two voices. One of the first flash pictures is a yellow rose.

"Actually, there is. We need to have more access to the asset," General Beckman is speaking, in her office, continuing the earlier scene, though Sarah is not visible. "You need to get closer to Mr. Bartowski, in every way possible. Casey's reports indicate the asset is in love with you. True?"

The replying voice is distinctly Sarah's. "Yes, ma'am, I believe he is. And I…"

The General cuts her off. "I am ordering you to commence Operation Nahal Sorek. You will seduce the Intersect and convince him to spend as much time with you as possible. Keep him happy but keep him in control." There is no pity in Beckman's voice.

"But, ma'am…" replies Sarah. The tone is impossible to read. It's a bit shaky, but the cause is unclear. It's part question, part plead, part shock, part everything.

"No 'buts', Agent Walker. Operation Nahal Sorek must proceed. Your feelings on this issue are immaterial."

The flash ends. We see Chuck's face, where horror and disbelief are clearly evident.

Go to black and run closing credits.

_

* * *

Please review, comment, rate, etc._


	7. Epilogue

_Apparently, I need to avow my lack of ownership in this story. That's a trend I noted when I was rereading. It was interesting trying to get back into the style of this story._

Chuck recovers rather quickly. "How could you do this to me?"

Sarah looks confused. "What do you mean?"

"Agree to seduce me? Under orders? What's that about ?"

"How do you …? Nevermind." Her voice is unhappy. "You know how it is, Chuck. I'm an agent. I don't get to question orders, I just follow them. On the plus side, we both get do what we've want-"

Chuck cuts her off. "Don't give me that. Just say you failed."

Sarah shakes her head. "I can't do that. I was first in my class in seduction and infiltration of enemy personnel. I wouldn't fail." Silence greets her pronouncement, as Chuck just stares at her incredulously. For a moment, they simply look at each other, before she breaks the silence with a husky voice. "C'mon, Chuck, isn't this what you've always wanted?"

She moves in closer, and he doesn't back away. "No." His voice sounds very uncertain, like he doesn't believe it himself. "Not like this."

"Why not?" The words are little more than a breath in his ear.

With great effort, he pushes her away. "It's not HOW I want it."

"I don't care about 'how.' I just want it."

"Oh, I so want to believe that. But ... I have to believe I'm hearing the woman who finished first in her class in seduction. And I don't want Agent Walker right now. I want Sarah."

The purr in her voice disappears and her body posture becomes much less aggressive. "How can I convince you otherwise? That I want this too?"

"I already told you. Say you failed." A half-smile appeared on Chuck's face. "Preferably lying when you tell them that."

"I - I can't do that." Her face shows her mortification at the idea.

"Well, it's going to be true." He turns to the door and starts to leave.

Sarah's eyes are brimming with tears. "Chuck, don't go."

He pauses, looking sadly at her. "You know I hate to see you upset."

"Then stay." He looks uncomfortable until she adds, "I'll even propose a lousy compromise."

"What?" Distrust is still heavy in his voice, but a bit of curiosity blunts its edge.

"Stay tonight. I will leave you alone, but I'll claim success. Your honor won't be compromised, but it'll get Beckman off my back."

A pause looms in the air. Chuck breaks the silence. "OK." Neither looks happy with the compromise, however. Fade out.

Fade back into the same room, with Chuck lying on the bed. Sarah comes out of the bathroom wearing the least sexy pair of pajamas ever. She looks sadly at Chuck. "I'll just sleep on the couch."

"Really? Why's that?"

"So that you know you're in charge. And this way, I won't be tempted to go against my word. Not tonight at least."

Chuck winces, but he acquiesces. The main lights go out and the two try to sleep. Both toss and turn. Neither is comfortable.

Finally, Chuck growls out an upset "Aaarggh!"

"What's the matter?" Real concern laces her voice.

"This is so frustrating. I can't shake the feeling that you're still playing me, even now. That this is all part of some seduction plan."

She sighs. "I could lie and say it wasn't a technique. But essentially everything is. It's just …." she trails off unhappily.

"Why are you telling me that?"

"I'm … I'm trying to be honest. It's not exactly easy."

"I appreciate the effort. Good night, Sarah."

"There's nothing good about it," she grumbles. "Night. Sleep well." The camera goes black.

The next scene is bright, with Sarah in the foreground in the middle of Castle. Behind her, Chuck is out of direct view, but he is watching intently. Sarah is addressing the wall, so her face is in profile. "Nahal Sorek is complete."

"That was quick." Beckman's voice is typically dry.

"First in class." Sarah doesn't sound quite as proud as might be expected.

"Good work. Keep me informed if anything changes. Beckman out."

In a moment, Chuck walks over to where Sarah stands. Putting his arm around her, he says sincerely, "Thank you."

"Yes, now they think we're sleeping together. Are you happy?"

"Not really. You?" She shakes her head and slips free of his arm. Climbing the stairs, she glances down near the top. "If you ever want to make me an honest woman, though, just let know."

The camera zooms in on a smile growing across Chuck's face before it fades to white.

_I've had a couple ideas for sequels to this story, but they didn't work out at the time. At this point, I don't see one ever getting written. So I thought I'd compromise on this little epilogue to explain, a bit, of how the end of the episode plays out in the future._


End file.
